Blog posts

At the moment I am working with 3 boys, who are all about the same age. They all have some form of Autism, but vary in abilities and talents. Each child also has specific learning issues that require a differentiated and individual approach. It’s important to share their stories so that we can see the importance and value of using a mobile device like the iPad, but to also see how it is vital for any program to be designed to suit their individual needs.

The summer holidays are great – if you have good weather and plenty of money to entertain the kids. With just a week into the holidays we have been to the cinema, gone on a coastal walk, been to the park, joined the library, visited Nanny and had a play date with a school friend. What's next?

Well, I decided that I would let my (just) seven year old twins loose in the kitchen with me. It is always something I have been reluctant to do, not least because of the hot oven and sharp knives, but also because with siblings there often comes arguments. However, I wanted to make some spring rolls and I thought that this would be a fun thing for them to help with.

By their very nature, anxious kids tend to be sensitive and perfectionistic. They want to be the best they can be and they want you to be happy with them. Because of this, discipline for anxious children comes with its own challenges. Done positively though, it can build your anxious (or non-anxious) child and cement your relationship. Here’s how to make sure of that:

In my last post, How to Listen So That Your Toddler Can Talk, I made the point that the first step to helping your child talk is to listen and follow his interests. But how do you build on those interests to give your child the power to communicate with the world around him? Fortunately, there are a number of tried and true techniques to increase your child’s language ability. Here I give you 5 super-tools to put in your communication super-toolbox.

There aren't any guidelines regarding the recommended amount of fizzy drinks that a child should have, but I am sure we all know that they are not the best option. In this blog I will explore why they are not so good, and what we should be steering our children towards.

It is fairly well documented how sugar can lead to obesity due to excessive weight gain. Soft drinks have been shown to be the largest contributor to sugar intake for 4-18 year olds, with the 11-18 year old range having the highest, consuming nearly 30% of their sugar from fizzy drinks (data from the Food Standards Agency UK). As well as helping towards unhealthy weight gain, an average can of fizzy drink may have up to eight heaped teaspoons of sugar which may damage teeth.

When SightWords.com founder Gajan Retnasaba became a father, he looked for online resources he could use to enhance his daughter’s education. But when it came to resources for teaching her to read, he was disappointed with what he found on the internet. Most of what was available either required a purchase or subscription fee, or was difficult for a non-educator to understand.

As an experienced web entrepreneur, Retnasaba knew he could produce something better. Having already created BabySignLanguage.com, he teamed up with the Georgia Preschool Association to develop SightWords.com. The website is designed to be a one-stop shop of free sight words resources for educators and parents of young children, offering a full sequence of teaching techniques, games, and materials for this crucial building block of child literacy.

What do your children believe about their capacity to change their intelligence and their abilities? Do they believe that hard work will actually make a difference? Or, are they more of the view that it all depends on what they were born with – that intelligence, abilities and personality are fairly fixed and unchangeable. It’s an important conversation to have. Here’s why …

The beliefs they have around the potential for people to change their intelligence and personality can determine their path towards success. Their mindset – what they believe – is so important in establishing behavior, feelings, thoughts, motivation and resilience, just to name a few.

Just for one moment, imagine a school that you walked into and the very first questionnaire you completed would contain the questions: What does your child love to do? What is their favorite thing in life? What are they good at? What makes them smile? Imagine a school with a curriculum that was catered for those kinds of questions…and with that information designed a pedagogical program individual to your child.

It’s 11am and your toddler has already had several meltdowns. Everything feels like a struggle – eating breakfast, getting dressed, putting on shoes, cleaning up toys. You feel like your nerves are fraying, and your head is spinning a bit.

Feel familiar at all? Here are 5 ways to keep your cool with a defiant toddler – whether it’s because of the Terrible Twos, an impending transition, or just a typical Tuesday.

I had heard about Etsy, the online international marketplace for entrepreneurs, but I had never explored the website until recently. I am glad I did, as I found some wonderful handmade merchandise. There is such a wide variety of unique items on the website.

I found a few children's items that I liked, contacted the shop owners and they were all gracious enough to send me some free samples. They just asked that I leave a review on Etsy. Since I liked these products very much, I thought I would review it here, as well. Thinking from an occupational therapist mind set, I chose items that could be used to develop eye hand coordination, fine motor coordination and handwriting skills!